Newspapers, radio, TV and now the Internet are filled with advertisements that offer -- for a fee -- to erase negative information in your credit file. I must get 20 emails a day promising to repair my credit record. The scam artists who run these ads cant deliver. Believe me. Only time, a deliberate effort and a plan to repay your bills will improve your credit record.

You don’t need to install solar panels or have your home certified by a green building program to sell it in a green market, says Michael Kiefer of Green DC Realty in Washington, D.C. However, notes Kiefer, who specializes in selling green homes, you should highlight the energy efficient and environmentally friendly features in your home. For example, a listing for a recently sold 120-year-old Capital Hill row house simply said, “This home has been renovated using sustainable materials and with energy efficiency in mind, allowing you to feel more comfortable in your home while reducing your carbon footprint and saving you money.”

Let’s face it. This is not an easy time to sell a house. Improving your home’s energy efficiency is always a good idea, but when you’re getting ready to sell, a few simple, green fix-ups could help put a sold sign on your lawn.

Using a home-equity credit line to borrow against the equity in your home has become a popular source of consumer credit in Boulder City. Depending on your creditworthiness and the amount of your outstanding debt, home-equity lenders may let you borrow up to 85 percent of the appraised value of your home, less what you still owe on your first mortgage.

When you bought your home, you almost certainly had the property surveyed. If you're like most people in Boulder City, though, you filed the survey away with the deed and the title insurance without really knowing what it was.

Lenders generally insist on private mortgage insurance when you are purchasing a house if your down payment is less than 20 percent of the total value of the house. PMI helps protect lenders against losses due to the default of a borrower and subsequent foreclosure on the home.

With the current low interest rates, many individuals in Boulder City are buying personal residences, refinancing existing mortgages and taking out second mortgages. The Internal Revenue Service has ruled that if you pay points to refinance a home, the amount you pay is not fully deductible in the year you pay it.

A reverse mortgage is a loan against your home that you do not have to pay back for as long as you live in your home in Boulder City. A reverse mortgage loan will pay you in monthly advances or through a line of credit.